most anticipated movies

Italian director Luca Guadagnino s long awaited follow up to his critically swooned over 2009 breakthrough I Am Love currently reps one of the trump cards of the Venice fest lineup It won t be going to Toronto. No one knows quite what to expect from this study of rock royalty vacationing with wild consequences in the Mediterranean, but therein lies the fascination Guadagnino s previous muse Tilda Swinton returns, while Ralph Fiennes, Matthias Schoenaerts and Dakota Johnson join the party.

Danny Boyle working from a rapid fire script by Aaron Sorkin with Michael Fassbender, Kate Winslet and Seth Rogen starring, Scott Rudin producing Steve Jobs has so much promise. Universal Pictures is also surely gunning for a major presence after attempts with Unbroken, Les Mis

If awards season were strictly a meritocracy, British veterans Charlotte Rampling and Tom Courtenay would be leading the field of seen Best Actress and Actor contenders for their shattering performances in this exquisite late autumn marital drama from Andrew Haigh ( Weekend, TV s Looking ). Playing a retired rural couple set off course when long buried tragedy resurfaces, the pair were deservedly honored at the Berlin fest in February and lavished with praise from U.K. critics in August. Toronto will show North American auds what the fuss is about.

Yeah, don t adjust your screen. A Star Wars film has been plopped into this wealth of prestige product. But to be fair, that quite literally is happening based on the film s December release date, a first for the franchise. It s hard not to be excited for a new, Disney era installment of such a beloved series, but it s equally intriguing to ponder how it could land with the industry. Will it be an Oscar player? Maybe, maybe not, but again, hard not to be excited.

Viscerally drawing attention to the plight of African child soldiers, Kim Nguyen s 2012 drama War Witch was rewarded with critical raves and a foreign language Oscar nod, but was seen by precious few beyond the festival circuit. Emmy winning director Cary Fukunaga s take on similar thematic material will draw a whole lot more eyeballs, thanks to the presence of Idris Elba as a fearsome mercenary commandant and, of course, a simultaneous theatrical and VOD release via Netflix. It seems a gutsy choice of guinea pig for an exciting new distribution model.

After making his name with a series of sensitive, low key character dramas, Irish director Lenny Abrahamson took an unexpected left turn with last year s willfully weird, Fassbender led music biz comedy Frank. So he has the necessary understanding of intimacy and profound human strangeness to adapt Emma Donoghue s 2010 bestseller, inspired by the Josef Fritzl scandal, about a young boy and his mother held captive for years in a single room. For actress Brie Larson, the pic reps an opportunity to build on the critical good will she accumulated for 2013 s Short Term 12.

Biopics abound this year but few seem as overdue as this. Tom Hiddleston stars as country music legend Hank Williams, who died tragically young but not before shaking the very bedrock of an industry. Plenty of eyes will be on Hiddleston, an unexpected piece of casting, but watch out, too, for Elizabeth Olsen, who plays Williams wife Audrey and is said to be excellent in the role.

No hot streak can last forever, but outward appearances give us no reason to bet against David O. Russell at this point his last three features scored 25 Oscar nominations between them, five of them for Russell himself. But he s chasing the win with a yarn inspired by Joy Mangano, a struggling single mother turned millionaire Miracle Mop inventor. A tasty teaser trailer promised more of Russell s restless storytelling energy and a feisty showcase for Jennifer Lawrence, who has already gained an Oscar (plus a further nomination) on the director s watch

Stories about journalists really need a certain jolt, and the best of them All the President s Men, The Insider, Shattered Glass can make a profession filled with phone calls, typing and shoe leather investigation seem positively thrilling. If Tom McCarthy manages that with his latest, which documents the Boston Globe s investigation of the 2002 Catholic archdiocese sexual abuse scandal, then it could crackle and pop its way through the season. Mark Ruffalo stars alongside Rachel McAdams and Michael Keaton, fresh off a big circuit march with Birdman last year.

If you re asking which award season release I m most looking forward to seeing again, this Cannes sensation takes it by a country mile. Todd Haynes return to the subject of suppressed desire in 1950s suburbia, 13 years after Far From Heaven, is an immaculate auteur statement. I second every word of my colleague Justin Chang s rave, which cites the film s supreme intelligence, breathtaking poise and Cate Blanchett s incandescent lead performance, though Rooney Mara unexpectedly singled out by the Cannes jury is no less worthy a Best Actress contender.